"The Immortal" Hulk Hogan is a big reason why wrestling became so popular and broke through to the mainstream in the 80s, as his legendary "Hulkamania" gimmick through which he defied all the heels to stand strong for America attracted many to flock to watch him at his best. Hulk Hogan might now be one of the true icons of the business, but he didn't get his iconic rise without some hiccups on the way, as he was well known for his backstage influence over management and getting things his way whenever he wanted, mostly because of how popular his character was.

Throughout his career, Hogan won many accolades and at one point was known throughout the country because of his popularity and because of his "good-guy" character. This made for the rise in popularity for Vince McMahon's promotion and Vince continuously pushed Hogan as the face of the company to make sure the bucks kept coming in, thereby making for some appalled people in the back who thought they were being undermined because of Hogan.

The Hulkster might be a good guy on-screen, but he has his share of enemies behind it. That said, he also has his share of friends who love him for what he has done not just for the WWE, but for the entire wrestling industry.

22 FRIEND: Jim Duggan

via wwe.com

They say that true friends are discovered in times of distress. Well that came true for Hulk Hogan recently when he was entangled into the racism controversy which drove him out of the WWE, but his surprisingly good friend in Jim Duggan came up to defend him and stated in an interview that the WWE should rehire him as soon as possible. Saying that what Hogan did was in the heat of moment, Duggan seemed to stay beside him during this controversial stage which goes to show how close pals they are. They have been good friends for decades now, right from when they were together in the WWE and Duggan is supposedly one of the guys to have hugely benefitted during his time at WCW when Hogan had a enormous backstage influence in it, and Duggan has repaid that by sticking close to him ever since.

21 ENEMY: Shawn Michaels

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Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan was quite the prospect when the WWE went with it in 2005, when they pit the Heart Break Kid against The Immortal in a match at SummerSlam. But what many didn't know is why exactly was Michaels acting funny in the match and hilariously overselling everything. So the original plans were for Hogan and Michaels to continue their feud after SummerSlam(where Hogan would win) and Michaels to get one back afterwards, but Hogan backed out of that deal in the last moment and only wanted to do the SummerSlam match. So Michaels went ahead and oversold all his moves, getting bizarre reactions from Hulk and the fans as well. Michaels still dislikes Hogan for that one, as he has stated on how he doesn't trust him and thinks he's a selfish man to back out of the deal like that, and we can reasonably agree with the guy as well.

20 FRIEND: Virgil

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Virgil may have been possibly the worst member of the NWO during their prime days in WCW, but he won over Hulk Hogan and spent much time with the Hulkster during their time together, as Hogan would often only take Virgil with him to the ring for in-ring promos and indicate on how strong their friendship really is. Hogan would also be defended by Virgil during his racism scandal, as the former valet of Ted DiBiase said that the words "could have been a voice-over or something" and that he never believed Hogan to be racist in his entire life. That is some strong support coming from Virgil, as this surprising friendship's strength was displayed when Hogan was in some real trouble and getting support from one of his colored friends really helped his cause.

19 ENEMY: Bret Hart

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Bret Hart has become like a grumpy old man now, but one can state that his loathing towards Hulk Hogan is totally justified considering how he has been misbehaved by the Hulkster in the past. In recent years, Hart has thrashed Hogan for his inability to maintain and progress a wrestling promotion, stating that Hogan and Bischoff only know how to make money and have zero to offer to the business. Hart also has a long-time hate for Hogan dating back decades to 1993, when in SummerSlam Hogan was supposed to pass the torch for the Hitman to become the top face of the company, but he instead went onto drop it to Yokozuna months before the event. Hogan has claimed that the change was because of Vince McMahon having cold feet on making Hart the top face, and some of Hogan's thrashing of Hart has really emotionally hurt the Hitman over the years. Hart might be a guy who finds faults in everything nowadays, but he's right to dislike Hogan because of what he did for him, inspite of Hart doing a lot to put The Hulkster over towards the end of his WWE stint.

18 FRIEND: Greg Valentine

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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine didn't really spend that much time interacting with Hulk Hogan when they were together in the WWE, but the two were particularly close during the Hulkamania days. Valentine's record of holding the Intercontinental Title during that time can indicate how close they really were backstage. Not only that, but Valentine was among the people to get a long term WCW contract thanks to Hogan's influence in the company as the two seem to have had each other's back at all times. Valentine is also a part of the "Hulk and Friends" group who travel around places and answer candid questions, as the two have had a strong friendship for a long time now and it probably isn't breaking because of what they've done for each other.

17 ENEMY: Jesse Ventura

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Jesse "The Body" Ventura might have become a rather successful politician after his wrestling career, but he holds quite the grudge against Hulk Hogan for destroying much of his wrestling career back in the day. In a recent candid interview, Ventura stated on why he hates Hogan so much as he stated that The Hulkster had "ratted him out" to Vince McMahon to get him fired, which he considers as a major locker room violation. He further went onto state that Hogan was the reason that he got fired from WCW later on as well, as he had 6 months left on his WCW contract at the time Eric Bischoff brought in Hogan and he was instantly let go off after that happened. One could assume the hatred if all this is true, but going by Hogan's backstage influence and misdeeds he has committed with it, this isn't impossible either.

16 FRIEND: Mr. T

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One of the earliest celebrity wrestlers in the business, Mr. T instantly formed a bond with Hulk Hogan after arriving in the WWE as the two seemed to gell together really well, as they not only went onto main event the first ever Wrestlemania, but also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live prior to the event. Mr. T and Hulk went onto form a great tag team which eventually had to be broken off because of T going to WCW, but that healed soon as they seemed to be great pals ever since main-eventing the first Wrestlemania. When asked about what he thought about Hulk's racist remarks, Mr. T said that "he hadn't lost any respect" for his buddy and will stick closely to him till the end as the connection these two's friendship seems to have been glowing more than ever during the racism scandal.

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15 ENEMY: Ric Flair

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Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan were the top stars when they were on top during the 80s and early 90s, and an ego clash is rather certain going by how egoistical both the wrestlers are. So the main reason why they detest each other is probably because of when they were both in the WWE in the early 90s and a dream clash for Wrestlemania VIII was all but set. The major problem was that they couldn't decide on an ending for the match, as none of them wanted to lose to another one. The match therefore got called off and both of them had disdain for one another because of it. More problems arised between the two during their days in WCW, as they couldn't agree on booking decisions and despised each other for it. The two exactly haven't seen eye to eye after those days anyhow, as their egos clash a lot and both just can't seem to consider each other as anything but competition.

14 FRIEND: Bobby Heenan

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Bobby Heenan's rivalry with Hulk Hogan during the 80s is quite legendary, as the two seemed to absolutely hate each other with Heenan trying possibly everything to destroy Hulkamania to the ground. But with all the revulsion Heenan had shown towards Hulk on-screen, they were quite close friends backstage as Heenan was actually secretly a huge "Hulkamaniac" and loved working with Hogan as well. The two were very close during their hay-days, as Heenan was hugely supportive of whatever Hogan did in the company and because of their friendship, Hulk always made sure Heenan was there in teh company to feud with him. Heenan might be in a rather appalling state right now, but we can presume the two are still close to each other as they were best of pals backstage during their time in the WWE and made the company a lot of money with their antics.

13 ENEMY: The Honky Tonk Man

via wwe.com

The Honky Tonk Man might have been a comic-relief character back in the days when he was the Intercontinental Champion, but in real life he's quite the revealing personality as he has done quite a lot of shoot interviews in the past, revealing a lot of insider things about the WWE. In some of them, he also revealed of his loathing for Hulk Hogan, who he blames for ruining his career in WCW and then in TNA. His recent problems with Hogan is about how he handled an altercation between Honky and a backstage interviewer, and labelled Hulk an old crippled dogsh*t of a man because of how it was handled by him. He also blames Hogan for how he was responsible for Honky Tonk Man's ruined career in WCW, and also accused Hogan of not being loyal to the company that made him and hang out with door to door meat salesman Eric Bischoff. It seems that Hogan might have a horrible attitude outside TV, and The Honky Tonk Man seems to really despise him for who Hogan is outside the ring.

12 FRIEND: The Rock

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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson probably grew up most of his life idolizing Hulk Hogan, only to go onto become on par with him at a point of time before going onto have that iconic match at WrestleMania X8. But the Rock has since also hit it off with the Hulkster, as the two seem to have a strong bond ever since meeting back in the days. The Rock was also one of the prime guys to stand up for Hogan during his racism tirade, as he openly stated that he firmly believed that Hogan was never a racist, going onto say that "we've all talked trash in our lives". The Rock seems to have The Hulkster's back, as these words coming from an international sensation like the Rock probably helps Hogan's case a lot, as the two seem to be on great terms.

11 ENEMY: The Iron Sheik

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The Iron Sheik is a guy who doesn't care about anything and just shoots on everybody and everything he wants to. But he has had a beef with Hulk Hogan for quite sometime now, mostly because of how he was treated by Hogan after kick-starting the Hulkamania movement. During an interview on the Howard Stern Show, The Sheik made it clear that he was going to f**k Hogan's a** with a beer bottle. The Iron Sheik's main problem with Hogan is him not getting a rematch for the WWE Title which he lost to the Hulkster in 1984 which kick-started Hulkamnia. He also stated that Huk Hogan is extremely two faced and promised him a lot of things that night in Madison Square Garden, but never followed through with any of his promises.

10 FRIEND: Eric Bischoff

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Eric Bischoff probably doesn't have a lot of friends in the wrestling business because of how unpredictable and conniving he is, but he always seemed to have a soft spot for Hulk Hogan, ever since courting him to WCW to kick-start its dominance. Bischoff and Hogan allied together to take down Vince McMahon's empire and seem to have had a very strong friendship ever since their WCW, as they sadly ran that company to the ground but years later moved onto towards TNA together as well. The two always seem to be together when dealing with promotions in terms of backstage roles, and even after decades of knowing each other from WCW have maintained a very close friendship and trust each other enough to go into coalition together.

9 ENEMY: Scott Steiner

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Scott Steiner is another wrestler who doesn't shy away from speaking his mind, and when it comes to Hulk Hogan, he has a lot of detestation to vent out. It all started during the WCW days when during an event Steiner was scheduled to compete, but had no clue who he was facing until 10 minutes before the show. This angered him and he accused Hogan for this lack of organisation. Then in 2012 after he finished his TNA stint, Steiner took to twitter to thrash Hogan and Bischoff for ruining TNA, stating that they took all the best segments to themselves and that he was disgusted at Hogan's daughter Brooke being paid to perform in the company. This touched a nerve with the Hulkster, who threatened to sue him for his comments. Again last year during Wrestlemania weekened, Hogan accused Steiner of threatening to "kill him" at an airport, to which Steiner reacted by saying that it was all lies and that Hogan's accusation of him saying that Randy Savage's Hall of Fame induction is "bullshit" is all lies as well. Steiner seems to be really pissed at Hogan for all his mis-management of Steiner and apparently lying towards him and isn't shy from setting the Hulkster straight in his path.

8 FRIEND: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

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What Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan is probably more than friendship, it's more kind of an intimate brotherhood. Many other wrestlers have reveled from Hogan's backstage influence, but none of them had it quite like Beefcake who would be in the WWE and later WCW because of Hogan himself. The two trained together in Florida before starting out on their wrestling careers, as Beefcake even had matching ring names to what Hogan would have early in their careers. If Hogan was named Terry Boulder at first, he'd be named Ed Boulder. After he became Hulk Hogan, Beefcake changed his name to Dizzy Hogan. They were so close at a point of time that fans speculated that there was something more to it than mere friendship between them, with those rumors being fuelled by Hogan's ex-wife Linda's comments during their divorce. Even if it's hard to believe the former part, they have been extremely close together as Beefcake has always sticked with Hogan and Hogan kept him in the business because of Beefcake being like a brother to him.